


Lucky Bastards

by Auddieliz09



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, M/M, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Romantic Comedy, The Wedding Date AU, liam and brett are step brothers, no beta we die like aiden, past liam/jackson relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 09:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28469085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auddieliz09/pseuds/Auddieliz09
Summary: When Liam is expected to be the best man at his brother's wedding, he doesn't want to face his family and ex fiance alone. So he hires male escort Theo Raeken to pretend to be his boyfriend for the entire wedding weekend.But what happens when it no longer feels like pretending?OrA Thiam "The Wedding Date" AU
Relationships: Josh Diaz/Brett Talbot, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 5
Kudos: 76
Collections: Thiam Holiday Gift Exchange 2020





	Lucky Bastards

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Skaboom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skaboom/gifts).



> This is my Thiam Holiday Gift Exchange gift for Emily who wanted "Fake dating. Of any sort." So she got one of my favorite romcoms Thiamed :D
> 
> Emily, I hope your enjoy this gift as much as I enjoyed writing it! Sorry in advance if the Springsteen song isn't one of your favorites, it's one of the only four I know lol.
> 
> Happy Holidays!
> 
> (Minor trigger warning with spoilers in end notes Just In Case)

**_Liam Dunbar and Guest_ **

_ Dr. and Mrs. Jullien Talbot _

_ Request the honor of your presence _

_ At the marriage of their Son _

_ Brett Christopher Talbot _

_ To _

_ Joshua Henrique Antonio Diaz _

_ On Saturday the Eleventh of August _

_ At three o’clock _

_ St. Peter’s Church _

•○•●•○•

Liam scrubs his teeth vigorously, nerves jangling throughout his body. Today is the day. He's going home. He's going to see family and friends he hasn't seen in person in two years since he ran away to New York. Ran away from the pain and humiliation of his fiance dumping him out of nowhere with no explanation other than "It's better this way, Li."

Liam groans and scrubs harder. He's going to have to face Jackson, too. He's the other best man at his brother's wedding after all.

His manic scrubbing is interrupted by his phone's text message chime. Liam's mouth drops open and spitty toothpaste dribbles down his chin at the name that pops up.

Yet another reason to be nervous. He's meeting his date for the wedding today.

**Raeken:**

**'Hi, Liam. This is Theo Raeken.'**

**'Sorry I didn't get back to you Iast night but I got your voice messages. All seven of them.'**

**'I know you're nervous but this is what I get paid for.'**

**'I'm running late so I sent a messenger to pick up my ticket.'**

**'Liam, stop worrying. Your ex-fiancé wilI wish he'd never left you and your family will think we're in love.'**

**'Trust me. I'll see you at the airport. Can't wait to meet you.'**

Liam closes his eyes and makes a mental note that Theo Raeken is apparently one of those people who sends several messages instead of one long one. He finally rinses out his mouth and rereads all of the messages. His eyes catch over and over on the same words:  _ this is what I get paid for. _

Liam closes his eyes and breathes through his nose. He's hiring a fucking escort to be his wedding date to spite his ex-fiancé. What even is his life anymore?

He deletes all of the incriminating evidence, then moves to his room to finish packing. The buzzer for his apartment goes off and he scrambles for an envelope to stuff the ticket into before writing Theo's name on it. He opens the door and hands the man in a bike helmet the envelope. The man gives him a little salute before turning to leave. Liam watches him and the little envelope that will seal his fate for the next week disappear down the hall.

He huffs out a frustrated sigh and gets back to packing. When he pulls the tub from under his bed to grab his toiletry bag, he's confronted by photos of himself and Jackson. Beach selfies, a photobooth set, engagement photos. Liam's heart twists. He sets down the photos and picks up the little velvet box with his engagement ring. He brushes a finger over the solitary diamond set into the gold band. He'd been so fucking happy when he'd received it, and now he's miserable. Has been for two years. Fucking Jackson Whittemore. 

Liam really hopes that Theo can make good on his promise to make them appear in love in front of his friends and family. In front of Jackson. 

Liam slams the box shut and grabs his toiletry bag before shoving the tub back beneath his bed. He finishes packing and calls a cab. While he waits, he dresses in his nicest comfortable clothes. Because even first class can only do so much for a nearly six hour flight.

On the way to the airport, Liam thinks about Theo. He'd learned about him from an article in the New York Times magazine. Literally called "Hire Your Date", the article highlights the pros and cons of hiring an escort for a date with a sub article from a male escort giving a detailed description of what a person might expect from a date with him. How he'll act, what he'll say, how he'll interact with his date and the people around them. 'It all comes down to the client's wishes and desires. Nothing more, nothing less.'

That is exactly what Liam needs out of a date to this wedding from hell. Luckily for Liam, he knows the editor for that section of the newspaper. He'd  _ begged  _ Hayden to give him the details on the escort. She'd made him explain exactly why he needed to know. When she was finished calling him a loser and cursing out Jackson, she finally gave him Theo's number and told him the man was "sex on legs".

Liam really hopes she's not exaggerating. Jackson takes his looks very seriously; hair always styled to perfection, never skipping a gym session, nine step skin care routine. The point of hiring an escort is for everyone to believe that Liam's upgraded. At least he knows Theo's voice is to die for from their initial phone conversation discussing details of the weekend long date and payments. Here's hoping the rest of him is just as spectacular. 

He makes it through security and customs, then finally finds his seat on the plane. He's studying the safety pamphlet when a woman across the seat asks him, "First time flying?"

Liam lowers the pamphlet. "Ah, not at all. I just-" he cringes. "I'm heading to my brother's wedding where I'm his best man. The problem is that his fiance's best man is my ex-fiancé. So. If I chicken out, I want to know where all of the exits are."

She gives him a sympathetic smile. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

After a few uncomfortable minutes, he huffs and shoves the pamphlet away before standing and heading toward the flight attendant manning the beverages cart. "Two fingers of brandy, please."

The flight attendant's face stays carefully blank as she pours his drink and watches as he downs it in one swallow.

"I'm not a knuckler, I swear." Liam tries to reassure her. "My date is going to show up soon. Seat 3B. I need him to look really, really good."

She looks behind him and her eyebrows rise. "Well, hello 3B. I think you're good."

Liam turns to see a man with gorgeous dark hair and broad shoulders wearing a casual suit shove his carry on in the space above seat 3B. When he's finished, he accepts two glasses of sparkling wine from the flight attendant who'd approached him. 

"Thanks," Liam whispers, handing his tumbler off and heading toward the man who appears to be only a couple of inches taller than him.

Theo Raeken turns around and Liam nearly swallows his tongue. If he'd thought Theo's voice and body were perfect, he was not prepared for the man's face.  _ Holy shit. _

"Hey," he manages to say.

"Liam." Theo smiles and hands Liam a glass. He leans in to kiss him on the cheek, then turns toward their seats. "Let's sit."

Liam follows his example and sits, his cheek burning where Theo's soft lips had brushed it. He cannot stop looking at Theo's face. The man is stunning. Thick dark brown hair, strong brows, beautiful grey/green eyes, full lips covering perfect teeth. His sharp jaw is covered in the most delicious amount of scruff. He's got a cute little mole on his right cheek that Liam wants to kiss. 

Liam realizes he's staring so he scrambles for something to say. "I'm glad you found the plane okay. Airports are a special kind of hell."

"I'm sorry we couldn't leave sooner," Theo nods at him. "I know you wanted to get settIed before the party."

They'd had to book a later flight because Theo had had work the night before. 

"It's fine, really. Work must be crazy for you."

Theo just raises his eyebrows at him.

_ Shit. _

"Sorry, I didn't mean- I wasn't-" Liam clears his throat. "Anyway, I feel like I should warn you. You know those siblings where they're at each other's throats constantly but at the end of the day they're family so you love them and would do anything for them?"

"I have a sister, so yes." Theo nods.

"Brett and I are not like that. I'd blame it on technically being step siblings but I love our sister, Lori. And our dad.I mean, the entire family and friend circle is pretty bad with boundaries in general. But Brett is… you’ll see.”

Theo's brows raise again and Liam just shakes his head and turns around in his seat. Theo will find out soon enough. 

•○•●•○•

A loud crack startles Liam awake and he realizes it's his ears popping from the plane's decention. He rubs his eyes as he listens to the captain explaining that they've reached San Francisco and will be landing in ten minutes and to stay in their seats until their seatbelts lights turn off. He groans a little as he remembers why he's on the flight… and with whom he is flying with. Maybe he'd imagined how beautiful Theo was? Maybe the brandy was really strong?

Liam twists around to peek over the seat and there he is. Theo Reaken. Somehow even more beautiful after sitting in a plane for nearly six hours. 

Theo looks up from his book and his lips twitch. "Good afternoon." His eyes twitch up to Liam's hair and back down to his eyes.

"Hi." Liam scowls and turns back around, cautiously lifting his hands to his hair. He can feel it sticking up in all different directions. Shit.

He finger combs it down as best he can before burying his face in his hands and reminds himself that he doesn't actually have to impress Theo. He just has to pay him.

When they finally get off the plane and retrieve their bags, they head for the restroom to change into their suits for the party. Liam had agonized over what he'd wear the first time he saw Jackson after all these years. He finally settles on black trousers and tie with a crisp white shirt and a burgundy jacket that brought out the warmer tones in his skin. 

He steps out of the stall to see Theo combing out his hair in the mirror. He's wearing a charcoal grey suit with a white shirt and… a burgundy tie.

"You're not really wearing that tie are you?"

Theo looks down at the tie and then at Liam in the mirror. "Yes, I am."

"I mean. You look great but… it looks like a tailor used the same fabric from my jacket to make your tie." Liam gestures to his sleeves.

Yet another eyebrow lift. Liam might shave those damn things off before this weekend is over. "You think we look like we're trying too hard."

"I do think showing up in matching colors looks like we're trying too hard, yes."

Theo turns to look directly at him. "Here's a little trick I've learned. If you look people in the eye, they'll never notice what you're wearing."

"Oh, Theo. We'll be surrounded by the girls and the gays. They  _ will  _ notice." Liam sighs. "Fine. If you're not changing your tie, then I'm changing my jacket. Hold this for me." He hands his garment bag to Theo to hold and starts pulling out jackets and holding them up to his chest. 

"I know you think this is necessary, but I've got to tell you that you are stunning as you are and you've got everything going for you."

"Don't patronize me. I feel like shit, and I want to look hot while I’m doing it.” Liam holds up two jackets. "Black or blue?"

Theo actually studies the garments before nodding at the blue one. Liam takes it and the matching trousers with him back into the stall. When he steps back out Theo looks him over. “You wanna look hot? Then, mission accomplished.”

“Really?” Liam studies himself in the mirror.

“The blue brings out your eyes and pinstripes are always sexy.”

Liam looks back at Theo. “Don’t get too attached.”

He hangs his black trousers and burgundy jacket in the garment bag and takes a quick moment to fix his hair. Theo is right about his eyes. Good.

•○•●•○•

They take a cab directly to the venue. They haul their luggage into the coat room and set them to the side out of the way before making their way to the guest check in area. Liam hesitates in the doorway and Theo bumps into him. 

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

Theo gently presses a hand against his back. “Well I do know that you have to move out of the doorway. Once you do that, you can do the rest, too.”

Liam takes a deep breath and steps through the threshold. That was relatively painless, and Theo is right. Now that he’s here, he can’t just leave. Liam leads them to the desk just as the woman standing in front of them turns around.

“Liam!” She runs into Liam’s arms.

“Lori, hi!” He sets her down. “It’s good to see you,” he admits.

“Wouldn’t be a problem if you’d visit more often.” Lori rolls her eyes then looks at her watch. “Damn. Mason won the bet.”

“You guys bet on me?” he asks warily.

“Yep! I bet that you’d show like two hours late. Mason bet you’d be less than an hour late. Lydia bet that you’d show super early. Brett bet that if you showed up at all, it would be at the last minute right before everyone left. Scott bet you’d be right on time. Stiles bet that you wouldn’t show up at all. Josh and the others didn’t want in and none of us bothered to tell Jackson about the bet for obvious reasons.” She takes a deep breath to keep talking, but Liam interrupts her.

“This is Theo. My date.” He drags Theo forward and Theo shakes her hand.

“Oh, wow. Hello, Theo. What do you do?”

_ Shit, shit, shit. Abort mission!  _ “Hey, Lors, we actually need to get in there before Brett thinks he’s won the bet, okay! I’m sure we can catch up later.” 

He drags Theo to the check in desk and signs them into the guestbook before dragging him back to the coat room. 

“Shit. That was almost bad. We never discussed cover stories.”

Theo blinks slowly at him. “Did you have something in mind, or?” 

“You’re good with people, right? So, we’ll say you’re a therapist and we’ve been seeing each other for a little over a month and you’re crazy about me. Plausible amount of time for you to agree to come to a weekend long trip with me and also for me to have kept you a secret.”

“Fine. That’s easy enough to remember.” Theo shrugs and tucks his hands into his pockets.

“Good. Great. Excellent.” Liam sighs in relief. “And while we’re here in relative privacy, here.” He pulls a stuffed envelope out of his pocket and hands it to Theo. “Six thousand. Count it.” He’d already counted it at least ten times but he wants Theo to double check for him.

“I trust you.” Theo starts to tuck it into his own inner jacket pocket.

“No! Count it. Please.”

Theo quirks a brow and thumbs through the bills while Liam counts along with him. Once they’re both positive that all of the money is accounted for, he tucks the envelope away and says, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll cover the regular expenses but if you want to get intimate, we’ll have to talk money first.”

“Oh. Wow, no. That’s not going to be a thing that happens. I don’t morally agree with the idea of sex for money.”

Theo eyeballs him.

“I’m sorry. No offence towards you or your clients or anything. I think everyone should have the right to earn money as they will, it’s just me personally-”

“Liam. For the love of god, quit apologizing.” He taps the cash through his jacket. “This is a business transaction. Keep that in mind so you don’t feel the need to say sorry all the time.”

“I’m sorry, I ju- Sor-” Liam clamps his mouth shut.

“It’s also pretty annoying.”

Theo turns to leave the coat room and Liam sighs, following him out. At least if Theo continues to be such a prick in private, Liam will never have to worry about forgetting that this is, in fact, a business arrangement.

•○•●•○•

Theo steps out of the coat room and sighs. This is why he never does weddings. People lose their freaking minds at weddings. And someone as tightly wound as Liam is extra ready to lose it. But he’s starting to understand what Liam was trying to tell him about his family, if his sister and her bet with them were any indication.

When Liam joins him outside the room, he takes his hand and pulls him toward the party. As soon as they enter, Liam is rushed by another small blonde lady, this one older than Lori. 

“Liam Bean!” She wraps Liam up tightly in a hug. “What took you so long? Quickie in the broom closet?”

“Mom, please. Not today.”

“Yeah, yeah. And who is this.”

Theo paints on his most amiable smile and holds his hand out to his date’s mother. “I’m the new guy, Theo. It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Talbot.”

“Oh, aren’t you charming. You can call me Debbie.” Theo will absolutely not be doing that. Mrs. Talbot beams at him, then turns to her son. “Alright. This weekend is booked. You’ve left no room for jet lag so drink less alcohol and more water, do you hear me? Tomorrow is young people in the park followed by the bachelor parties. You’ll be going to Brett’s so Theo Dear will have to go with Josh, make sure they are introduced properly. Saturday we head up to Beacon Hills and have the picnic and Saturday evening is the rehearsal dinner.”

Liam nods along with everything she says and Theo knows that Liam knows all of this already. He’d sent Theo a very detailed itinerary with his proposition, but Liam just lets his mother chatter away as if he couldn't remember a simple schedule. Eventually she leaves them and Liam looks up at him. He can sense that Liam is about to apologize for his mother, but Theo raises his brow at him and Liam looks away. Then, a beautiful, genuine smile blossoms on his face and Theo’s breath catches a little. He follows Liam’s line of sight to a tall man with salt and pepper beard.

“Dad!”

Liam lets go of his hand and buries his face into the chest of the older man. Jullien Talbot hugs him tightly and Theo is happy to see Liam’s shoulders relax the slightest bit. When he pulls away and turns toward Theo. “Meet Theo.”

“Dr. Talbot.” Theo reaches out and shakes his hand.

“Very happy to meet you, Theo.”

Before they can say anything else, they’re interrupted by a new voice. “Little Liam!”

Another fake grin creases Liam’s face as he’s lifted into the arms of a tall handsome man that looks like a younger version of Dr. Talbot. “Brett!”

“Liam, Liam I’m getting married! I asked Josh to marry me and he said yes, Liam can you believe it?”

“He’s been in love with you since we were at least twelve, so of course he did.” Liam chuckles.

“Whatever. This is the best freaking weekend of my life!” He catches sight of Theo. “Who’s this hunk, huh?” 

Before either he or Liam can answer, Brett lopes off to greet another guest and announce he’s getting married. Theo can’t help his skeptical expression. 

Dr. Talbot notices. “I always find it easier to survive these events with a stiff drink.” He makes his point by finishing off the one in his hand.

"Can I get you another, sir?" Theo asks.

"If you would be so kind." He hands theo his empty glass.

Theo leaves Liam to his dad and steps toward the bar. He can still hear them speaking about him.

"Where did you find him?" Dr. Talbot asks.

Liam eyeballs Theo and Theo sends him a wink. "Yellow pages."

Dr. Talbot laughs and Theo hands him a fresh drink before draping his arm over Liam's shoulders and pulling him against his chest. Liam stiffens slightly in his hold but Theo doesn't think anyone but him will notice. He thinks about telling the other man to relax but before he can, Liam's mother starts tapping on a microphone.

"Oh, shit. Who let her have that?" Liam groans. 

"Good evening, family and friends!" Mrs. Talbot waves with her champagne flute. "I hope everyone has a drink! Julien and I are thrilled that you all are here to celebrate with us as we welcome Josh and the Diaz's into our family." Everyone cheers for the upcoming union. "I know we thought that Liam was going to get hitched first, but I don't think waiting a couple of extra years for Brett to pull his head out of his ass was too bad of a deal." Polite laughter fills the room and more than a few sideways glances are thrown Liam's way. Theo pulls him closer, his heart aching a little for Liam. "Both of my boys were so popular in school but Liam got engaged first and we all know how that turned out."

A loud and obnoxious piano chord jangled through the room and everyone looks to see a sharp-jawed, green-eyed man lift his hands from the keys. Liam stiffens further against Theo as the man lifts his drink. "To the grooms!"

"Oh, yes!" Mrs. Talbot looks mildly embarrassed. Theo can't tell if it's because she was interrupted or because she realises how much of an ass she was making of herself. "Back to the grooms! Josh, we're thrilled you waited for the boy next door. Our Brett. Congratulations, boys!"

Everyone toasts to the grooms and the party resumes.

Liam sighs. "I'm going to use the restroom. Excuse me." He extracts himself from Theo's embrace and makes his way towards the restrooms on the second floor.

Theo watches him go and is suddenly glad he agreed to come here for Liam. He now understands exactly why Liam wanted someone "perfect" to accompany him to these shark infested waters. He's going to do everything he can to help Liam build himself up against these people. 

He doesn't know who Jackson is yet, but he understands how much of a coward the asshole was to leave Liam to face all of this alone with no explanation. Maybe he hadn't been able to stand his family. Maybe he just hadn't loved Liam enough. But either way, Liam is clearly the stronger of the two.

•○•●•○•

Liam dries his face and takes a deep breath before exiting the restroom--and immediately comes face-to-face with the one person he was longing to see and hoped to never see again. "Jackson!"

"Li! Hey." Jackson smiles nervously. "You look damn good, Li."

He pulls Liam into a cautious hug. Liam closes his eyes and breathes in the familiar scent of the man he'd once thought he'd spend his life with.

"Oh, my god! Liam, Liam, Liam!" Liam pulls away from Jackson at the sound of a familiar voice. One that he's missed dearly. "LIAM!" Suddenly Liam's arms are full of Mason Hewitt. He can't help but squeeze his best friend to him. "Where the hell have you been? My dentist calls more often." Mason turns toward Jackson. "Hello, asshoIe. Since you brutally dumped my best friend you won't mind if I steal him away, do you? Thanks."

Liam stumbles a little as Mason drags him back down the stairs. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wasn't saving you from him," Mason squeezes his hand. "I was saving you from yourself. You, my love, are too fucking nice."

Liam sighs and finds Theo surrounded by girls and gays, just like Liam figured he'd be. "Did Jackson bring a date?" He asks Mason.

"Liam, babe, why waste time on that dick when Mr. Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down is waiting for you over there? I saw you cuddled up during your mom's, uh, speech." Theo looks up at them and smiles at Liam. 

"Dear god, that smile. What does he do?"

"He's a therapist." Liam latches onto their made up story like a lifeline.

Mason raises his eyebrows at him.  _ "Your  _ therapist?"

"Ah, no. But Hayden has spoken to him before." It's not technically a lie.

Mason hums as they continue to watch Theo be his ridiculously charming self. When Theo takes a sip from his glass, he sends a wink and smirk toward Liam. "God." Mason sighs. "I think I've just come."

Liam snorts. "You, my friend, need to get laid. I'm gonna go save him."

He shoulders his way between two single cousins and grabs Theo's hand. "Having fun?"

"Much more now that you're here." Theo uses his hand to pull Liam closer. "Ladies and gents, it was a pleasure to meet all of you, but I think it's about time I got my date here a drink. Good evening."

•○•●•○•

Liam drops his hand as soon as they reach the bar. They both order neat brandies but before Liam can take a drink of his, Brett leans over the counter and says, "Can I have that?"

Liam looks down at his drink and then up at Brett before sliding the little glass over. 

"Thanks, bro." Brett downs the drink.

Are they freaking serious? They are literally at the bar? An open bar. Brett could have just ordered his own from the bartender standing right. There.

Theo swallows his disbelief with a sip of brandy.

"You know what I love about all of this, Li?" Brett asks.

"That there's finally an excuse for the world to revolve around you, Brett?" Liam asks dryly.

"Abso-fucking-lutely." Brett beams at him.

A beautiful tan-skinned man comes up behind Brett and wraps his arms around him. "How is the future Mr. Talbot-Diaz?"

"Perfect!" Brett grins up at his fiance and Theo can tell that even though the guy is a prick, he's very much in love with the man he's about to marry. "On the right side of tipsy and in the arms of my Baby Boy."

Josh's cheeks darken slightly, then looks toward Theo and Liam. "Am I not the luckiest asshole in the room?"

Liam rests his elbow on the bar and his head on his palm. "I'm pretty certain that title goes to Brett, but sure."

Theo scoots closer to Liam and rests a hand on his hip as if to say,  _ clearly, I am the luckiest asshole here but I'm too polite to say it in front of the couple of the evening. _

Brett reaches up and grabs Josh's nape to pull him into a kiss. "He's right. I definitely hold the title."

"Agree to disagree, love of my life." Josh rubs their noses together.

Theo wonders what it's like to be in love like that. He's faked it a few times, but he's never once felt it for real. Maybe someday.

He distracts himself by brushing a lock of Liam's hair off of his beautifully sculpted cheekbone. Truly, this job is not a difficult one. His partner for the weekend is absolutely stunning. Theo had been pleasantly surprised when he'd turned around on the plane and came face to face with Liam Dunbar. The man is a bit of a wreck emotionally, but goddamn he's beautiful. And Theo hadn't been lying about the blue suit bringing out his eyes. Such a deep blue, Theo thinks he'd happily drown in them.

_ C'mon, Raeken. This isn't the first beautiful client you've had. Get your head back in the game.  _ He sucks in a deep breath, ignoring the copper and citrus scent he's started to associate with Liam, and looks around the room. Out on the balcony, he sees the man who'd interrupted Mrs. Talbot's speech. A relatively sane person, perhaps?

Theo excuses himself with a kiss to Liam's cheek and a promise to find him again after he's gotten some air. He makes his way toward the man leaning against the balcony rails. He leans against the same rail a few feet away he says, "Hey."

"Oh." The man is startled from his thoughts. "Hello."

Theo notices that the guy looks pretty rough. Not nearly as put together as he had when he'd saved Liam. In an effort of solidarity, Theo says, "Weddings are a celebration of love and commitment" he takes another sip of his drink- "in Utopia. In the reaI world they're an excuse to drink excessively and say things you shouldn't."

The man snorts. "A philosopher, huh?"

Theo laughs a little and says, "Well, shrink." Keeping up with Liam's story for them.

"Oh, shit. Okay."

"What?"

"No, nothing." The guy takes a drink of his beer.

"No, tell me." Christ, he really does sound like a shrink right now.

"Well, no offence, but I've never really seen the point in therapy, you know? Spilling your guts to a total stranger, it's not naturaI." The guy turns away from him and faces the open doors. Theo can hear laughing from the bar where Liam, Brett, and Josh have been joined by Lori and the black man Liam had pointed out as his oldest friend, Mason. "Oh, God."

"Hmm..?"

"It's just…" The guy faces him again and chugs the rest of his beer. "There's this guy that I care for… Well, I suppose you could say I love him.The thing is, he's here with some other guy."

Theo squints at him. But before he can ask, his arms are filled with Liam Dunbar wrapping himself around him. "There you are!" Liam cups his jaw, his expression a little wild.

"Hey, Li." The man rubs the back of his neck, staring baleful at the back of Liam's head.

"Oh," Liam's feins surprise as he turns to look at the man. "Jackson!"

Jackson.

Liam turns back to Theo. "I see you've met my ex."

Well no wonder he'd stopped Mrs. Talbot's speech. That was about the part where he'd been the asshole who'd broken the groom's brother's heart. Of course he wouldn't want that dirty laundry out for everyone to see any more than Liam did.

"Ah, well. It was a pleasure meeting you all the same." Theo doesn't bother offering his hand.

"Sure, right, yeah." Jackson takes a step back. "Same to you. I'll, uh, I've to to go do… just go."

A slick satisfaction rolls through Theo at his hasty retreat. 

"Well, he looks… miserable." Liam moves to stand beside Theo. "What were you guys talking about?"

"He's pretty drunk but I think he's still crazy about you."

"Really? What did he say?" Liam's impossibly blue eyes grow wide. "Do you think he wants me back?"

"I couldn't say." Theo answers. "But after everything, would you want to take him back?"

Liam frowns. 

Theo grabs his hand and kisses his knuckles. "C'mon. Let's go back inside and you can introduce me to the rest of your friends."

•○•●•○•

Liam and Theo carry their luggage up the stairs of his parents house with his mom and dad at their heels. They stop in front of Liam's old room and Liam drops a suitcase to grab the handle. "Where's Theo staying?"

His mom rolls her eyes. "Oh, please. As if you're not already sleeping together. And your old bed is certainly big enough for two." She reaches out and pats theo on the shoulder. "Goodnight, dears. You've got a busy day ahead of you, so behave for tonight and get some rest."

Liam can feel his face heating up and he avoids his parent's gazes as he pushes his door open and drags his bags inside. "Okay, goodnight!"

Well, shit. He'd been banking on his parents insisting that they sleep in separate rooms. Theo follows him inside and Liam feels compelled to apologize, even if Theo dislikes when he does it. "Sorry. I didn't think they would retract the 'no boyfriends' rule. They didn't let Jackson stay in here until we were engaged, so." He shrugs helplessly.

Theo just shakes his head and looks around the room. "You've been away for, what, two years? Clearly, you are an adult who is allowed to do adult things with whomever you wish." He pauses and blinks at something behind Liam. "Is that a locker or a wardrobe?"

Liam clears his throat and wills his cheeks to stay cool. "Brett has one in his room, too. We were jocks. We thought they were cool when we were sixteen."

"Oh, I'm sure you did." Theo says, face blank. "But what's your excuse for the Nickelback poster?"

"I was a teenager in the mid to late 2000's."

"So was I. And yet."

"Whatever. Everyone knows their greatest hits." Liam kicks off his shoes and rips the poster off the wall, he shoves it in the bin, then grabs digs in his suitcase for his toiletry bag and pajamas. "I'm going to take a quick shower. You can hop in after I'm done."

He marches into the ensuite bathroom and closes the door. He wishes he could linger under the hot water and scrub the day away but he'd promised Theo a turn so instead, he washes up as quickly as he can. When he's Finished drying off, he dresses in a pair of comfortable grey sweats and a t-shirt he really wishes he didn't feel the need to wear. He hates sleeping with a shirt on.

Sighing, he opens the door to see Theo hanging the last of his stuff in Liam's closet. He looks up when Liam walks back into the room and points at the bags Liam had dug through to get his things. "How did you know that was me?"

Liam frowns down at the article he'd seen and taken copies of. "Oh, uh. I have a friend at the paper."

"Great. So much for anonymity." Theo scowls and starts unbuttoning his shirt.

"If it makes you feel better, I had to spill my guts to her before she would give me any info." Liam blinks, his mouth suddenly dry as Theo slips out of his shirt revealing a perfectly sculpted chest and a trim belly with the most delicious trail of hair leading from his belly button to beneath his trousers. He looks away, but his eyes immediately find themselves back on Theo's chest.

"Go ahead and look." Theo smirks. "That comes free with the package."

Liam laughs nervously even as his eyes catch on two little moles between Theo's perfect pectorals. The laughing stops when Theo starts to unbuckle his belt. "I'm sorry." He winces. He really does say that too much. "I just, uh, I'm a little nervous. I really never thought this would happen to me."

Theo drops his trousers to reveal tight white boxer briefs. "This happened  _ to  _ you?"

"Just. You know. I was dumped so hard that two years later I picked up the phone and tracked you down to fly you here and pay you 6k." Liam can't help but to watch Theo as he walks around the room in his skivvies until he reaches the bathroom. He doesn't bother closing the door before pulling off his briefs and stepping into the shower. 

_ Holy shit. That ass was sculpted by the gods. _

"Shit, I forgot my shampoo," Theo hollers from the shower while Liam stands frozen, eyes on the other man's silhouette through the frosted curtain. "Can you grab it for me?"

"Yeah, no problem!" Liam squeaks out, grabbing Theo's toiletry bag from the bed and hustling to hand it to him over the curtain. 

"Thanks."

"Uh-huh."

Liam's gotta get out of there. He hustles back into the bedroom and stares down at the article he'd copied. He has questions about what Theo had said. He's startled from his thoughts when he hears singing coming from the shower.

_ "We all just wanna be big rockstars  _

_ Live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars _

_ The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap _

_ We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat" _

That asshole. Liam grits his teeth and decides that he's not going to feel sorry for interrupting Theo's shower after all.

He leans against the doorway and clears his throat. "The part where a rich man asked you to be his sugar baby but you didn't want to commit to that kind of relationship... Is that how it really happened?"

Theo hums. "Actually. I come from a family of strippers and prostitutes. Accidents happen, you know? And the cycle perpetuates."

"Oh."  _ Oh, shit.  _ Liam moves to sit on the toilet.

Theo pulls back the curtain to smirk at him. "I'm fucking with you."

"You asshole!" Liam laughs and throws a towel at his face.

Theo catches it and turns off the water. Liam manages to turn away before he whips open the curtain. "Okay, but what about this part?" Liam asks. "You say, quote: 'Everyone has the love life he or she wants.' Don't you think that's a little- ohmygod." He's turned to face Theo thinking he'd be covered up and instead Theo was rubbing his hair dry leaving Liam nearly eye level with his fully exposed junk. 

Liam hates himself for staring but Theo Raeken really is pretty every-goddamn-where. He blinks slowly and barely manages to tear his eyes away, his mind desperately trying to recall what he'd been saying. Oh, yeah. "Do you  _ really  _ think I  _ want  _ to be single and miserable? That I want to be hung up on the guy who dumped me after five years for no reason?"

"Well, yes."

"Excuse me?" Liam glares up at his face.

"Look, first of all, he had a reason. It might not have been a good one or have had anything to do with you, but he had a reason. And second of all, yes. When you're ready to not be single and miserable, then you'll move the fuck on. The only person holding you back, Liam, is you." Theo tucks the towel around his waist and walks out of the bathroom with Liam gaping after him. 

Theo tosses the towel into the hamper and pulls on a clean pair of underwear before sliding under Liam's blanket. "Goodnight, Liam."

"Uh, yeah. You, too." Liam practically snaps at him. 

He hates that everything Theo had just said hurt as much as it did. He hates that a man he barely knows is able to get to him this way. He hates that everything Theo has said makes sense. He hates that the prick is probably right. 

He hates that he feels comfortable enough to sleep in the bare minimum amount of clothes with someone he's not having sex with. 

Liam goes to his closet to pull out another blanket. He roughly shoves the bed's comforter toward Theo and wraps himself up in the new one before settling in on his side of the bed. 

If they wake up the next morning with Liam wrapped around Theo despite the two blankets between them, well, neither of them talk about it.

•○•●•○•

Lacrosse. 

Liam had told him that he was a jock. And Theo had believed him. He'd even noted the lacrosse stick in his room. Along with the football and the skateboard and the baseball bat and the surfboard. Hell, he even has a tennis racket. So, yeah, Theo had had no problems believing that Liam had been a jock in school. 

What Liam had neglected to mention, was that his main sport had been fucking lacrosse. In fact, he and Brett had been co-captains their junior and senior years of high school. And apparently, so had Jackson. And a guy Theo briefly remembers meeting the night before named Scott.

He's surrounded by fucking lax bros. 

He's a little gratified that he's not the only "young person in the park" that didn't play the sport, but considering that they were all friends and family, they'd had to pick up a stick at least once or twice before. Theo silently thanks his goddamn gym teachers for making him participate in lacrosse days so that he at least knows the basics of what to do out here.

They'd chosen their teams through popsicle sticks in a cup with ones and twos on them. Theo's team consists of himself, Liam, Brett, Mason, Scott's girlfriend, Malia, and another couple. Isaac and Danny. From what Theo understands, he, Mason, and Malia are the ones who are not adept at the sport.

Liam had explained to him that the teams were evenly matched. Each had two former captains and two people who'd played on the school's team. On the other team they were Scott, Jackson, an obnoxious asshole named Stiles, and Scott's  _ other  _ girlfriend Kira. Along with three, people who hadn't played--Josh, Josh's oldest friend Tracy, and Lori. 

One thing Theo absolutely appreciates about playing sport as a young people activity in the summer in California is how much muscle gets exposed. The first shirt--Brett's--comes off after the second play. Shortly followed by Scott, Josh, and Jackson. Theo pulls his off when Isaac and Danny do. Even Malia strips to her sports bra. 

He both dreads and anticipates the moment Liam gets fed up with the uncomfortable heat and tears his shirt over his head.  _ Shiiiit.  _ He'd felt Liam's fit body beneath his suit the night before but he wasn't prepared to see his broad chest covered in dense hair that Theo wanted to bury his hands in. 

They play all through the morning until the not obsessed members of the teams start making noises about lunch. The score is tied and both teams agree that the next score will decide the game. Theo is actually pretty proud of how well he's played throughout the morning. And the others on his team have done a pretty impressive job as well. Jackson is still fuming over the goal Mason had ran past him and through the goal Kira guarded.

Liam walks over to Theo but his eyes are on Jackson. "Let's lose this one and then we can get you some lunch." He reaches up and brushes Theo's sweaty hair from his forehead before moving back to his position.

Theo's scalp tingles from Liam's fingers as he locks eyes with Jackson. There is no way Theo is losing on purpose. Liam thinks winning will make Jackson happy, and he's probably right. But Theo knows that jealousy can be just as effective for what Liam is after.

Adrenaline sings through his veins as Liam passes him the ball. Theo puts everything he's got left into his legs as he dodges past other players, weaving through Scott and Stiles on the long sticks and slams the ball into the top right corner before Kira can move her net up. His team cheers, Isaac scoops Danny up for a celebratory kiss. Malia claps Theo on the back with a "good game" before joining her partners. Jackson is livid, so Theo marches over to Liam and scoops him up into a hug. 

"He's watching, isn't he?" Theo asks him.

"Yeah," Liam answers breathlessly.

"Make him suffer, then."

Liam laughs incredulously and jumps up to wrap his legs around Theo's waist. Theo grits his teeth at how good it feels to have the smaller man wrapped around him with his face buried in his neck and their bare chests pressed together. Suddenly, he feels like the one suffering. One glance at Jackson makes it all worth it, though. Clearly the man was a damn fool and Theo is all too happy to shove the fact in the man's face. 

•○•●•○•

After showers and lunch, Liam and Theo get dressed for the bachelor parties. It had been decided earlier that the couples would be split among the grooms. Since Liam is Brett's best man, he's obviously going to Brett's party while Theo goes to Josh's. He'll be joined by Scott and Stiles and Danny as well as a few others, so Liam is relatively sure Theo will be fine. 

And if he can extract anything out of Jackson while he's there, more's the better.

When Liam gets dressed in his bathroom he texts Mason in a panic.

**Liam:**

**Show me what you're wearing so I feel less ridiculous about what I'm wearing and can leave the bathroom to face Theo!**

**Mason:**

**You can't show your own boyfriend your slutty golfer outfit?**

**Liam:**

**Shut up and send me validation.**

Mason sends him a string of eye rolling emojis and two photos of his outfit. One from the front and one from the back showing off his backless yellow plaid halter top held together by strings. He actually bought the skirt that Liam has sent him the link to and was wearing it along with an adorable yellow beret.

Yeah, that makes Liam feel better about his blue plaid vest and small khaki shorts with thigh high plaid socks to match his vest. He slips his feet into a pair of mock oxfords and takes a deep breath for courage before opening the bathroom door.

Theo, who had been bringing a potato chip to his mouth, paused with his mouth open and the chip halfway to his mouth, staring. Liam squirms, unable to tell if it's a good or bad stare. Theo finally closes his mouth and lowers the chip. His gaze travels down Liam's body. His eyes get caught on Liam's thighs as they move back up and then he stops at his chest. "Dare I ask?"

Liam clears his throat and resists the urge to cross his arms over his chest. "We're playing pub golf and Brett wanted the theme to be golf themed to go with it, but since it's Brett  _ and  _ a bachelor party, he said 'make it slutty'. So." He shrugs and folds his arms behind his back.

"Okay. Um, I'm not expected to dress up for Josh's party am I?" Theo's eyes still have not left his chest.

"No, and I'm pretty sure you guys are just staying at Jackson's place." Liam winces. "There will probably be strippers."

"Eh." Theo finally looks up at Liam's face. "What the hell is pub golf?"

"I'll tell you in the car, let's go." Liam leads him into the living room where his dad tosses Theo the keys to his car. 

"Have fun tonight, boys! Don't even think about driving if you're buzzed or worse."

"Thanks, dad! Love you, bye!" Liam drags Theo out the door before his father launches into his speech about the many times he's treated drunk drivers and/or their victims. 

Once they're in the car and moving toward the city, Liam sets his wallet on the dash and says, "Okay, pub golf. It's a twist on a regular pub run. Nine bars with nine "holes". One designated shot equals one hole. Brett will decide what alcohol will be in each hole. 

Now, there is a two stroke penalty for failure to finish a hole. And a three stroke penalty for throwing up. If 'Fore!' is said before throwing up, it is only a two stroke penalty.

Whoever has the least amount of strokes by the ninth hole, wins."

"That's… kind of awesome."

"That's shit we pulled in college and should probably never do again, but here we are." Liam laughs.

"Well, good luck tonight."

"Thanks! Hey, have you ever done a wedding before?"

"No. But I have done funerals."

"What?" Liam looks over at him. "An escort at a funeral? Someone is dead."

"Exactly," Theo glances back. "Imagine going through that alone."

Liam supposes that that person probably didn't pay extra for sex. Which reminds him of Theo's reaction to Liam's outfit. 

"Are you ever attracted to your clients?"

Theo downshifts and pulls them onto the street of the first bar Brett's party is meeting at. "I know you're curious about my business but I really can't discuss other clients."

"I don't really want to know about your  _ clients.  _ I just-" Liam really can't ask this delicately. "How many of them want to sleep with you?"

Theo sighs and parallel parks in front of the bar. "You know, I swear it's not about the sex. It's about understanding what people need."

"Oh, okay, escort Yoda." Liam snorts.

"I'm serious, Liam. I don't play games. No gimmicks." Theo turns in his seat to face Liam. 

Liam turns to him as well, face expectant.

Theo's face screws up. "It's much more…"

"SubtIe?"

"Look, It's not about me. It's about you."

"Oh, yeah?" Liam smirks. "Show me."

Theo gives him a droll stare. 

"Come on."

"Hmm... What's hoIding me back?" Theo pretends to think. "I think it's the words 'don't morally agree with'."

Liam huffs. They both know that's not what he's after here. "Show me."

Theo rolls his eyes. "Fine. Close your eyes." Liam just blinks at him. Theo leans forward into Liam's space. "Close them, Liam. You're safe, you can relax. I'm  _ not _ gonna kiss you." Liam closes his eyes. Theo leans in closer. "He's gonna be so sorry he lost you." Liam can feel his breaths caressing his jaw. "So, stop worrying." His ear. "Forget the past." His cheek. "Forget the pain." Theo's deep voice rumbles through Liam's chest. "And remember what an incredible man you are." Theo's hand gently settles on his neck, his thumb caressing his throat. "If you do that, he'll realize what he lost."

Liam feels Theo pull away.

"Holy shit!" Liam gasps, eyes opening wide. "You're worth every penny."

"You should get going." Theo smirks.

"Sure thing, Yoda." Liam manages to exit the car without falling on his face. Which is a special kind of miracle. 

He's greeted with cheers from his party when he walks through the door. Brett orders the first round of shots and Liam explains the rules of pub golf to those who hadn't gone to college with them. Everyone cheers again when the first shot goes down.

Everyone is in the process of ordering new drinks when Theo walks through the door. He immediately catches the party's attention, but Theo strides purposefully toward Liam. 

"You left this in the car. Seemed to me like you could use it." He hands Liam his wallet.

"Damn, thanks. What was I thinking?"

Theo smirks and turns to leave, but he's intercepted by Mason. "How about you stick around and have a little drink with us?"

Theo pauses and looks toward Brett. "Uh."

Brett smirks at him. "You could use a pregame before heading to Jackson's."

The girls and the gays swarm him once again, talking about how good he smells and how pretty his hair is. 

Mason, who has successfully caused a stir settles between Brett and Liam. "Can you believe Liam gets to see that man naked?"

"Mase!" Liam laughs.

"Seriously. You've gotta send the gods a gift basket. His ass is just…" Mason kisses his fingers like a chef.

Liam rolls his eyes and strolls to Theo, handing him a drink. "Must feel good, getting paid to be you," he murmurs.

Theo lifts a brow. "Who says I'm being me?"

Liam scowls but Theo just raises his glass. "Here's one for the lovers who've won you, the losers who've lost you, and the lucky bastard who get to meet you." The party cheers and downs their drinks. 

Theo hands his glass back to Liam and heads toward the door. 

"Well, aren't you gonna kiss your man goodbye before you send him off for a night of debauchery?" Brett asks Liam loudly.

Everyone cheers again as Liam sets the glasses in his hands aside and marches toward Theo. Theo raises another brow at him, and maybe it's the tequila but Liam is determined to accept this challenge. 

He grabs the lapels of Theo's suit jacket and pulls him down into a kiss. He'd meant for it to be a quick, dramatic smooch, but as soon as their lips met, electricity courses through Liam's veins. Theo's hands grip his hips as he tilts his head to deepen the kiss. Liam pushes him against the wall and buries his hands in Theo's hair. 

Finally, when they pull back to breathe, Liam registers the incessant cheering from the party. His eyes widen and he steps back from Theo. The other man smiles gently at him, then waves to the party before leaving the room.

•○•●•○•

Theo's heart is still pounding heavy in his chest from Liam's kiss when he reaches the address to Jackson's house. He's being fucking ridiculous. Liam is a  _ client  _ for fuck's sake.

But as he stares at the front door of the man who had had Liam for real and just… let him go, Theo can't help but truly believe that Jackson Whittemore is a fucking idiot. Liam had asked him if he was ever attracted to his clients. The answer is: yes. Sometimes he really does find them attractive. And yes he often agrees to sleep with them for a price if the chemistry is there. But he's never felt so conflicted about a client's wishes versus what  _ he  _ believes they need before. 

He  _ knows  _ Liam is still entertaining the idea of winning Jackson back. But Theo was not wrong when he told Liam that letting go of Jackson was the way to stop being single and miserable. And while Theo is all for making Jackson see the error in his foolish decisions, he absolutely does not want the asshole to even think about trying to win Liam back. 

This is why he's never done a wedding. It all gets way too tangled up and complicated. The feelings are starting to feel real and that's not fair to either him or Liam. Theo sighs and gets out of the car. He's only got two days left and then he can get Liam Dunbar and his ridiculously blue eyes and his sinful mouth out of his head. 

He knocks on the door and it immediately opens to reveal Stiles, who pulls him in and shuts the door. Stiles grips his shirt and leans in, asking, "What's the first rule of Fight Club?"

Theo adopts an innocent expression. "I've never heard of it."

Stiles grins. "My man! Let's get you a beer! But first, some party favors!" He pulls one of the Mardi Gras-esque beaded necklaces over his head and slips it over Theo's, then pulls two rubber bracelets out of his pocket. "I knew what color to give everyone else, but not you. So. Just boys?" He holds up the blue bracelet. "Or boys and girls?" He holds up the purple one that matches the one on his wrist.

Theo raises a brow. "And what if the answer is neither?"

Stiles scowls. "Well, I have a spare black one, but I guess I just assumed that since you're with Liam and I've known him since high school…"

Theo smirks at him. "That's what you get for assuming." He grabs the purple bracelet and slips it over his fist. "Now, about that beer?"

Stiles snorts. "Asshole. No wonder Liam likes you."

Theo nurses his beer and plays a few rounds of cards with the guys. He likes them all well enough, but he's not comfortable enough to get drunk around them. He notices that most of the bracelets are blue, though there are a few purple bracelets and at least two pink that he's seen. He doesn't recognize either of the men wearing them, but Theo assumes pink means straight. He only sees one black bracelet. 

He's wandering around the room, observing the ruckus and watching Josh do a round of shots with Jackson when the music changes and gets amped up. At the top of the stairs appear two men and a woman, all scantily dressed and swaying to the music. The men all cheer except Josh who groans and buries his head in his hands.

"C'mon, Joshy!" Scott tugs on his shoulders. "Just for shits and gigs!"

"One last chance, Josh!" Another guy Theo hasn't been introduced to hollers. 

Theo watches as Josh is reluctantly dragged into the living room and unceremoniously dropped into a chair, then immediately has one of the male strippers bending over in front of him. The other guy grinds against the first man with a blue bracelet that he sees and the girl coyly runs her fingers down Scott's arm until she can pluck at his purple bracelet.

Theo makes his way toward the back of the room to join a large black man wearing a black bracelet. "You don't want in on any of that?" The guy nods at the crowd and then looks pointedly at Theo's purple bracelet.

"Nah." Theo leans against the wall. "I worked as a bouncer at a club through college. Sort of lost it's appeal."

The man nods and holds out his hand. "Boyd."

"Theo." Theo shakes his hand and they sit back to watch the show.

•○•●•○•

Liam grins drunkenly at Mason as he flirts with the cute bartender at their seventh bar of the evening. Then he squints. "Ohmigod, Corey!?"

The bartender--it is Corey!--turns to Liam and grins in surprise. "Liam!"

Liam leans too far over the bar for a hug,but Corey catches him and squeezes tight him before gently guiding him back onto the stool. 

"How's New York?" Corey asks him. 

"Gets too fucking cold in the winter, man." Liam frowns. 

Before Corey can laugh, Brett practically tackles Liam and tells Corey, "Did you know Liam dumped you because of your funky breath?"

Corey looks a little struck and Liam waves it away. "No, no. That was Gary Whatsisface. Besides, I didn't really dump you, right?"

"Kinda hard, actually." Corey grimaces. "But, like, it was kind of a miracle you even gave me a chance at all considering you were one of the two hottest guys in school." He looks pointedly between Liam and Brett 

"Well that was clearly my loss and your gain, buddy, because I'm a fucking mess and you just met the best human on the fucking planet." Liam reaches behind Brett to rub the back of Mason's head and Corey and Mason beam at each other.

Liam grins up at Brett to brag about his matchmaking skills but his smile fades when he sees the baleful look on his face. Brett suddenly grabs him in a hug and says, "You're my step brother but I love you like a real one."

Liam frowns and pats his back. He doesn't remember Brett being an emotional drunk. "Love you, too, man. Hey, Cor? How about you set up my step brother's seventh hole?"

Brett pulls away at the suggestion and grins at Corey. "Rum!"

"You bet," Corey sets a shot glass in front of Brett and fills it with spiced rum.

"Yar!" Brett growls and knocks back the shot. But once he's set the little glass back down, he looks sad again.

"Brett, man. What's up?"

"I'm not sure I can do this, Li."

"Do what?"

"Get married. Josh, he's. He's too good for someone like me."

"Hey, don't say that." Liam tries to soothe him. Where is all of this coming from? "That's not true at all."

"It is! I shouldn't be allowed to get married. I-" Suddenly, the song changes to an upbeat song from their high school days and Brett's demeanor changes with it. "Oh! Mason!"

"Yeah," Mason knocks back his own shot of rum then leads Brett to the dance floor. 

Liam watches them go then turns toward Corey who looks just as confused as he feels. "I think I'll have my seventh hole, too."

•○•●•○•

Theo pulls the car into the Talbot's driveway, then walks around the car to open the passenger side door and help a very drunk Josh out of the car.

"...and what the hell is wrong with Jackson?" It appears Josh hadn't stopped speaking when he left the car. "As if I would sleep with a stripper! I'm about to get married. And have you  _ seen  _ Brett? He's hotter than both of those guys combined." 

Theo does think it had been a little weird how insistent Jackson had been about Josh taking this "last chance" to fuck someone other than Brett.

He pauses their progress and decides that honesty cannot hurt him when he's talking to someone this plastered. "It's been my experience that a man in love doesn't want a prostitute." He claps the other man on the shoulder. "Josh, you did the right thing leaving before you let them talk you into doing something you'd regret. And for what? Clout? Fuck that."

Josh squints at him. "How do you know so much… about so much?"

Theo smirks and tells the truth.  _ "I'm _ a hooker."

Josh immediately bursts into laughter and has to grab onto Theo to keep from falling over. Theo chuckles along with him. Even if Josh remembers this conversation, he won't believe that little truth bomb. Liam's plan to have him pose as a shrink works too well in his favor.

Josh finally stops laughing enough to stand up straight. "That's a good one, man."

He turns toward the house and Theo grabs him again to steady him and guide him up the stairs to Brett's old room.

•○•●•○•

The Golf Squad have piled themselves into a limo after finishing their ninth hole for a few laps around the city before being taken home. Liam crawls between Lydia and Malia to knock on the divider. It lowers and Liam presses his head against the glass. "Can- can we stop at an ATM? I gotta- I gotta make a draw. No. A withdrawn. Drall? Withdrall. Withdrawal!"

"No problem, sir. The next stop will be at an ATM for you."

"Thankssomuch!" Liam crawls back to Mason and grins dopily.

"Whatcha gettin' monies for?" Mason asks.

"'S a secret." Liam giggles and then the car stops Liam looks out the window to see a walk up ATM machine. "Thank you! I'll be right back!" He yells for the driver to hear.

He clambers out of the limo and stumbles toward the ATM. He fights his wallet out of his too tight shorts and pulls out a credit card to withdraw the maximum amount he can. He does this with three more cards before stumbling back toward the limo. His wallet is now too full to fit in his shorts so he clutches it to his chest. 

He can't lose this money. It's  _ important.  _

One by one, the party members get dropped off until it's just Liam and Brett on their way to mom and dad's house. They hang out of the skylight and Brett tells every late night walker he sees that he's getting married. Some people cheer or congratulate him, most just look at them like they're disturbing the peace. Fuck them.

Once they're home and the limo drives away, Brett wraps Liam up in another hug. "This was the best party, bro. Thank you."

When Brett pulls away, Liam remembers the lash hug Brett gave him. "Hey. You wanna sit on the bench and talk for a sec?"

"Why would I wanna do that?"

"Well," Liam scratches his cheek. "Maybe because you think you shouldn't be allowed to get married and I wanna know why so i can tell you you're being stupid."

"Ohhh, thaaat." Brett waves his hand. "Just pre wedding nerves man. You don't gotta worry about it. Or me."

"I'm going to anyway. You're my brother."

"Oh, jesus, Li. Don't do that." Brett tilts his head up to the sky.

"Do what?" Liam asks dumbly. 

"Don't- don't be nice to me. Liam, I can take anything but you being nice to me."

Liam stumbles back a step. "What? Why? Brett-"

""M gonna go inside now." Brett turns to walk away. "Don't worry about me, 'kay? I'm fine."

Liam has no idea what is going on. He lifts his hands to scrub down his face but ends up hitting it with his wallet instead. He blinks at the thick wad of cash sticking out of his wallet and remembers. 

It's important. 

He follows Brett inside but his brother has already disappeared upstairs. Liam goes to the kitchen to pour a glass of water. And contemplate if he really wants to do what he wants to do. 

He decides yes. 

He has no trouble making out up the stairs and to his room. When he opens the door, Theo wakes up and looks at him. Yeah, he definitely wants.

Liam smiles at him and sets his wallet on the desk before using the moonlight streaming through the windows to guide him toward the bathroom. He brushes his teeth and kicks off his shoes before turning back toward the bedroom. He's pleasantly surprised to see Theo standing in the doorway waiting for him. 

Liam smiles again and walks toward him. When he reaches Theo, he keeps walking, pressing his hand to Theo's belly and making him walk backwards until his legs hit the bed. He keeps pushing, but Theo holds fast, grabbing his hand and catching Liam's gaze with his own.

"Are you sure?" 

Liam smiles again. "I want you."

"Okay." Theo nods and allows Liam to push him back onto the bed.

•○•●•○•

Theo wakes up with his arms full of warm, naked Liam. He can't help but smile at how ridiculous his hair looks. He just looks so soft and peaceful in a way that he never appears when he's awake. 

The night before had been indescribable. Theo has had a lot of sex, but never so intimate. Never with someone so… important. It was the best sex he'd ever had and they hadn't even gone all the way. 

He slowly extracts himself from Liam and gets dressed as quietly as possible. Liam had had a later night than he had, and would probably appreciate something to eat before they head out for Josh's dance lessons. He decides to head downstairs to grab him a light breakfast.

In the kitchen, he smiles at Mrs. Talbot and pours orange juice in a glass and coffee in a mug, unsure what Liam will prefer first. At least he knows that Liam likes his first cup of coffee bblack. He toasts a couple of pieces of bread and butters them when they're still warm so that the butter will melt, just like Liam likes. Finally, he grabs a yellow apple from the bowl and slices it. The food goes on a plate and the plate and beverages go on a tray.

Mrs. Talbot stares dreamily at him as he walks past her, carefully holding the tray. By the time he makes it up the stairs and through the bedroom door, Liam is awake and dressed in sweats.

"Morning," Theo smiles at him. He sets the tray onto the desk, pushing a few things to the side to make room. He picks up the glass and mug, holding them out to Liam. "I didn't know which you would prefer first, so I brought both." 

"Thanks," Liam breathes out, taking the coffee. Theo leans in to kiss him but Liam sucks in a breath. "Hey, so, what happened last night?"

Theo steps back like he'd been burned. He hears his blood pounding in his ears as his stomach falls to his feet. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… I barely remember getting dropped off and I think I argued with Brett? And the next thing I know, I'm waking up alone in my bed. Naked." Liam rests his hand on his forehead.

_ Fuck.  _ Theo hadn't realized Liam had been that drunk. He hadn't realized Liam had been drunk at all. Buzzed, maybe, but he'd walked steadily right into the room. He'd brushed his teeth for fuck's sake.

"Nothing happened. You just stripped and got in on your side of the bed." The best night of Theo's life and Liam doesn't even remember it.

Liam's face colors. "Yeah, I don't usually sleep with clothes on."

"No big deal." Theo shrugs.

"Okay. Good." Liam smiles at him and lifts his coffee cup. "Thanks for this. I think I'll take it with me to the shower."

Theo nods and watches him walk toward the bathroom. His eyes linger on the strong lines of his bare back and he can't help but remember how those strong muscles felt flexing beneath his hands as Liam writhed on top of him.

_ I am such a fucking asshole. _

Theo turns away and tries to distract himself by chugging the orange juice from the glass he's still holding. He sighs and turns to return the glass to the tray. He's about to turn away when something catches his eye. 

Liam's wallet. 

Liam's wallet stuffed with--he picks it up and counts the bills--twelve hundred dollars.

Theo is an asshole  _ and _ an idiot. He's been charging people for dates and sex for years, but he's never  _ felt _ like a prostitute until now. The first time he's had sex that meant anything in a long time and the only reason Liam didn't play him for it is because he can't remember it happened.

Theo grits his teeth. Maybe he can give Liam the benefit of the doubt. He grips the full wallet and marches into the bathroom, ripping open the shower curtain. Liam yelps and covers himself.

"Theo, what the fuck?"

"Was this for last night?" Theo holds up the overstuffed wallet.

"It couldn't be if nothing happened!"

"I told you that if anything were to happen, we'd discuss payment first. I thought that was clear?"

Liam flicks his dripping hair out of his eyes. "Look, okay, I kind of remember withdrawing money. I'm pretty sure my thought process was that I didn't want you to think I was expecting anything for free. I thought it was important."

Theo scowls. "So you were expecting something."

"More like… preparing. Just in case."

God, of course Liam would have that kind of forethought while shitfaced. Go fucking figure.

Just in case.  _ Fuck. _

Theo rolls his eyes and turns his back on Liam. "For the record, you're three hundred short."

"I'm sorry, what!?" Liam climbs out of the tub and wraps a towel around his waist. "You're telling me that  _ if  _ something had happened last night, I'd have to pay you fifteen hundred dollars?"

Theo's emotions are ragged and he knows he should just move along but instead he spins around and says, "Yup. The extra includes… you know."

He sneers and tosses the wallet on the bed before walking out the door. He's going to get himself some fucking breakfast.

He's at the table with Dr. Talbot when Liam steps off the stairs in a tight, light blue henley that makes Theo want to claw his own eyes out and a mutinous expression. To avoid having it out directly in front of Dr. Talbot, Theo rises with his coffee mug and heads to the fridge for some creamer.

Liam greets his father then follows Theo to the fridge. Behind the door, Liam leans into Theo's personal space and whispers, "What if I didn't want you to do that to me?"

Theo briefly wonders what, exactly, Liam thought he'd meant by "you know" because he honestly had no idea what he'd been talking about. But he's still full of petty spite, so he answers, "The three hundred is for you doing it to me. Because if anything had happened, it would've been one of the highlights for you."

Is Theo still bitter that Liam forgot their night together? Yes, yes he is.

"But nothing did happen." Liam doesn't phrase it as a question, but Theo hears it anyway.

"That's why you get to keep your money." He grabs the creamer and pours a dollop into his mug before replacing it in the fridge and closing the door. 

•○•●•○•

The aggressive silence between them as they repack their bags to get ready to head upstate to Liam's hometown is deafening. Anger slithers beneath Liam's skin and he's not one hundred percent why either of them are pissed off. Which only makes him even more mad.

Liam doesn't understand why Theo is so pissy over the fact that Liam was trying to be considerate if anything sexual were to happen between them. What? Is he mad that they  _ didn't _ fuck and he can't get the money Liam withdrew? 

Wait. No really, is that it? 

No. Liam might be mad at the guy, but he doesn't think Theo would hold something like that against him. Hell, he could've lied and told Liam that they  _ had  _ done something and Liam would have had to pay him. God, adding money into the mix makes all of this so fucking complicated. Adding sex would just turn it into a clusterfuck of epic proportions.

After shoving their bags into the trunk of his mom's car, Liam climbs into the driver's seat and waits for Theo to join him in the cab. Though he's half tempted to drive off without him and make him ride three and a half hours with his parents. Okay, so he's not  _ that _ pissed off at him. 

The first thirty minutes go by in a foul silence that makes Liam itch to drive off the edge of the next bridge. When he can't take it anymore, he reaches over and switches on the radio. He's pleased by the 80s and 90s station that fills the quiet cab.

The silent tension between the men eases somewhat as they cruise down the highway with the windows down and listen to music as old as they are or a little older. When a familiar tune and drumbeat tumbles out of the speakers, Liam's shoulders automatically start moving to the beat.

"Sorry, but I gotta…" Liam turns up the volume as The Boss starts singing one of his favorite songs from his youth. 

Liam barely manages to stop himself from belting out the words as he bops along. But all of a sudden the lyrics hit just a little bit different.

_ You might think I'm foolish _

_ For the foolish things I do _

_ You may wonder how I come to love you _

_ When you get on my nerves like you do _

Well, it certainly has nothing to do with Theo's Cadillac, pink or otherwise. 

When the chorus plays, Liam sneaks a glance at Theo to see the other man drumming to the beat on his knees and lip-syncing. That's enough encouragement for Liam to start singing out loud. The sound of his voice makes Theo look over at him and Liam can't help but grin. They both sing along to the second verse and Theo sort of dances in his seat. 

_ Well they tempt you, man, with silver _

_ And they tempt you, sir, with gold _

Theo glances pointedly at Liam as he sings.

_ And they tempt you with the pleasures _

_ That the flesh does surely hold _

Then, he pulls his collar to the side and wiggles his eyebrows and winks.

Liam loses it. He clutches the steering wheel and tries not to run them off the road as they laugh at Theo's antics. They finish the song off together as loud as they can get.

**_"Honey I just wonder what you're doing there in the back_ **

**_Of your pank Cadillac_ **

**_Pank Cadillac!"_ **

"Waitwaitwait!" Theo turns in his seat to face Liam. "Are you saying 'pank' Cadillac?"

"I mean," Liam giggles. "That's what it sounds like when he sings it."

Theo's nose scrunched up adorably as he laughs, his eyes squish into pretty crescent moons and his face warms. Liam wants to kiss him. Liam had wanted to kiss him when he was mad. He wanted to kiss Theo when he woke up alone in his own bed. 

Liam is so fucked. 

The next hour of the drive goes by peacefully. Theo is the one to break it during a commercial break when he turns down the radio. Liam glances over at him to see him staring down at his hands. He finally takes a deep breath and says, “I’m sorry for being an ass this morning.”

Liam nods and grips the steering wheel. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Theo makes a face. “Do I have to?”

His reluctance knocks loose a fuzzy memory of Brett refusing to talk to him about his minor freak out at Corey’s bar. What is it with the men in his life and their inability to communicate? “No, you don’t have to. Just- can you at least tell me that you weren’t upset that we didn’t do anything and therefore couldn’t get paid?"

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Theo’s offence went a long way into soothing something inside Liam that had been aching. He lets out a slow relieved breath and says, “If that’s not it, then you don’t have to talk about it.”

"I promise that's not it. But was that really what you were thinking in the ridiculous head of yours?" Theo gently taps Liam's temple.

"It was a thought that crossed my mind." Liam shrugs. "I didn't really believe you'd think that way, but the idea was festering for how  _ bad  _ it was, you know?"

Theo sighs. "Yeah, I guess. Look, my reasons for being upset were purely personal and I took them out on you. Which wasn't fair and I really am sorry."

"Apology accepted."

A sweet smile blooms on Theo's lips and Liam wishes he warned driving so that he could study his beautiful face properly. Instead he smiles back and turns the radio back up so they can sing some more. 

When they pass the Welcome to Beacon Hills sign, Liam smiles. "Home sweet home."

Theo sits up and looks around. "Lots of trees," he murmurs.

"We're driving through the preserve, still. The city itself isn't very large, so yeah, lots of trees." Liam watches Theo through the corner of his eye. "You're a real city boy, then?"

"Yeah." Theo shrugs. "I was actually born in Maine, but my mom moved us and my sister to NYC when I was six. I don't really remember Maine at all."

"Well, enjoy the fresh air while it lasts." Liam laughs.

Theo shakes his head at him and watches as they pass the first buildings on the outskirts of town. "Why'd your parents even move to San Francisco?"

"Dad got a job offer he couldn't refuse. But they love this place, so they kept the house here. Well, houses."

"Houses?"

Liam shrugs. "My biological dad came from old money. He died of cancer when I was three. I guess his family kind of disowned him when he married my mom? But they couldn't take away anything that he'd inherited in his trust. That included a lake house and a vineyard." Liam chuckles. "Well, the Dunbar's attempt at a vineyard. Unfortunately for them, the grapes never grew well--Something about the wrong type of soil?--But the giant house they built for their grand plans still stands. My dad left it all to mom in his will. His family was  _ pissed  _ because there was legally nothing they could do about it. Anyway, that's where we're going to be staying."

"You, what? Grew up in this giant house?" Theo blinks at him.

"Kind of? After my dad died, mom didn't want to live in the big house so we moved to the lake house. Then she met Dr. Julien Talbot at a parent teacher conference when Brett and I were in kindergarten. Ten months later, I have a new dad and brother and we move back into the big house that I'd only been to like four times. And nine months after that we have a Lori." Liam smiles at the fuzzy memory of he and Brett holding their little arms out while their dad carefully places their tiny sister in them. They'd agreed then and there that they'd never let anything happen to her. And now she's a total brat but they love her anyway.

"So… your mom moved her new husband into her dead husband's house?" 

"Ah, but it was  _ her _ house and yes. They could've bought a new place to live, just like in San Francisco, but she legally can't sell the properties as part of the stipulations for the OG Dunbars not being able to take them from her. So, they didn't see the point of leaving the big house empty and finding a new place." Liam surns the car onto a long winding driveway. "Here it comes."

Theo perks up again, looking around. "I guess it makes sense," he murmurs. When the house comes into view, Theo gasps. "No way. Liam, this is not a house. This is a mansion."

"I believe it is somewhere between, but yeah, kinda. A lot more room for two growing boys and a baby girl than the two bedroom lake house, anyway." Liam pulls up close to the house, parking behind Brett and Josh.

When they exit the car, Brett slings an arm around Liam's shoulders. "Feels damn good to be home brother."

"Yeah, it does." Liam agrees then ducks under Brett's arm to help Theo with their bags.

"I thought Josh was the boy next door." Theo comments as he follows Liam up the staircase to the west wing. "There are no next door neighbors."

Liam laughs. "He's our San Fran neighbor. When dad got his job there and my parents bought the house, Brett and I were in sixth grade. We were enrolled at Devonford Academy which is one of the best schools in the state. Mom didn't want us to mess up our education, so they made arrangements for us to live here during the school year and spend the summers and holidays in the city. We met Josh our first summer there and have been friends ever since." Liam frowns. "Met Jackson that year, too."

He shoulders his way into his childhood bedroom. Like he had at the house in the city, Theo looks around taking everything in. Liam tries to see it through Theo's eyes. His old lacrosse jersey that his mom had had framed for him. The multiple trophies sitting on a shelf over his desk. The bookshelf full of history books. The cork board packed with photos of him and his friends from school. His siblings. Graduation photos. 

He sees Theo nod. "Yeah, the lacrosse in the park would have been a lot less surprising if I'd seen this room first."

"Shut up," Liam laughs and shoves him in the shoulder before dropping his bags and flipping onto his bed. "Oh, how I missed you, sweet bed o' mine."

He flops onto his back and scoots over for Theo to join him. When the other man lays down, he squints up at the ceiling. "Nice," he says in a teasing voice.

"I'm quite proud of my glow in the dark stars, thank you very much." Liam says primly.

Theo laughs until he suddenly stops. "Wait, are all of these..?"

"Actual constellations? Yes. I only had room for the Dippers, Orion, and the zodiac constellations, though."

"Alright, that is kinda cool. You're right to be proud."

Liam smiles faintly. "Hey, wanna know something that pisses me off?"

"Always."

He snorts. "I've been spilling my guys all weekend and I only know like three things about you."

"Hmm. I'm so expensive because I'm majoring in biology at NYU. I want to research and hopefully better treatments or cures for children with heart diseases. This is because I had a heart transplant when I was eight. Someone else's baby had to die so that I could live and I hate that." Theo rubs his hand over his heart. "Her name was Allison. I wasn't going to have the scar removed, but then I went into a business where looking perfect meant better pay."

"Oh my god." Liam reaches for his hand. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you got a chance to live. And also, I wouldn’t have turned you down over a scar."

Theo's lips quirk as he turns his head to look at Liam's profile. "I'm allergic to penicillin. My favorite color is blue." He squeezes Liam's hand. "I think I'd miss you, even if we'd never met."

Liam lets out a shaky breath. And for the first time all weekend, he has no words. 

•○•●•○•

After they unpack, Mrs. Talbot gathers everyone up and they trek across the property to the small lake at the northernmost edge. Josh and Jackson had gone the rest of the way to the lake house to drag down the barbeque grill while Liam and Mrs. Talbot unback the bags and coolers of food they’d all helped carry. 

Once the burgers and hot dogs were on the grill with Josh manning it while he and Jackson debated over rare versus well done meat, everyone else split into smaller groups. Mrs. Talbot and the other young women were sunning themselves by the lake shore. Most of the lax bros were playing a pick up game that Theo found impossible to follow and was glad Liam hadn’t dragged him into.

Instead, he’d insisted they play poker with Dr. Talbot and Mason.

If anyone had told Theo that Liam--nervous chattering, wound tight Liam--was a fucking shark at poker, he probably would have laughed at them. But as Mason folds and Liam reveals a full house, Theo can’t help groan at yet another loss. He’s glad they’re only betting pennies.

Before they can start their next round, Josh strolls up in an adorable apron and with a plate full of food. “Have any of you seen my fiance? He’ll kill me if I don’t serve him first.”

“Sure he would, Baby Boy,” Mason drawls sarcastically, causing Josh’s cheeks to darken.

Liam snorts. “Have you guys ever even had a real fight?”

“Of course.”

Everyone looks at him skeptically. 

“You know that makeup sex is the best kind, right?” Mason grins at him.

“My sex life is fine, thank you. I don’t need to find out if you’re correct or not.”

“Well, I think you do.” Liam grins evilly. “What do you think, Mase?”

“I think you’re right.” Mason launches himself at Josh.

“No!” Josh manages to dodge Mason but he runs right into Liam. “Wait, guys, no!”

“Gimme the plate, Josh!”

Theo chuckles at their antics along with Dr. Talbot before the older man turns to him. “Care to go find the other groom, Theo. I thought I saw him heading toward the lake house.”

“Sure.”

Theo leaves the poker table and makes his way up the pebbled path toward the small house perched on a hill beside the lake. He can hear raised voices coming from inside. Part of him thinks he should just leave it alone and wait for Brett to finish his argument before he pops in, but then he recognizes Jackson’s voice. He’s too curious and he knows that if he doesn’t interrupt now, he’ll end up listening in to the entire conversation which is none of his business.

When he opens the door and steps through, he hears Brett say, “Why are you bringing this up now? I’m in love with Josh. I’m marrying Josh. What do you want from me?”

_ What the hell is going on here?  _ Theo doesn’t try to sneak as he walks into the living area and sees Brett and Jackson standing in front of each other by the kitchen window. Jackson is gripping Brett’s upper arms.

“I want you to tell me…” Jackson sees Theo walking toward them and immediately steps away from Brett. “Blue shirt or...white shirt for the rehearsal dinner?” He slips past Theo and hurries out the door.

Brett looks confused to see Theo. Or maybe he’s just confused by Jackson and what he was saying before Theo showed up. “Sorry to interrupt. Your dad sent me.”

“What for?” Brett suddenly looks very vulnerable.

Instead of telling Brett his food is ready, Theo says, “To make sure you're okay.”

Brett sighs. "The man doesn't even know but he knows too damn much." He sits in one of the kitchen chairs and buries his face in his hands "Do you believe a place has a memory? Even before Josh and I started dating, we all used to come up here in the summer and spend weekends as soon as Liam got his license and could drive us." His hands move up to his hair and tug at his curls. "God, I hope this place doesn't remember everything."

Theo sits at the table across from Brett Talbot and listens to the man confess his sins as if he were in church. Theo understands Brett's been bottling this shit up for so long that it needs to release pressure, but he really wishes that he were not the one that was being confessed to. Not just because it's none of his business, but because every word out of Brett's mouth has him seething with indignation. 

When Brett stops talking, Theo asks, though he's pretty sure he already knows the answer, "Does Liam know?"

Brett just squeezes his eyes shut. "If Josh ever found out-"

"Or Liam." Fuck. One more secret to keep from the man he's developing real, honest feelings for.

Brett laughs humorlessly. "And he wonders why I swim to the bottom of a tequila bottle every time I see him."

Theo's jaw flexes and he stands up. "By the way, your food is ready. Though I'm sure it's cold by now. Try not to take it out on Josh."

He leaves the house to go find Liam and… just be with him.

•○•●•○•

Liam's talking to Lori about the barista she wants to ask out when Jackson interrupts them. "Liam, can we talk? It'll only take a minute."

"You." Lori eyeballs Jackson. "The guy who stole five years of his life with your bullshit and jawline and now you just want a minute? Sure, go for it."

"Lors, thanks for the solidarity and all but that right there was a prime example of an unnecessary info dump." His sister just stares at him. "Go on. I'll be fine."

Lori rolls her eyes, but leaves them alone.

Jackson takes a deep breath. "You know how sometimes you know what you should or shouldn't do but then you end up becoming someone you never thought you'd be?"

Loam blinks. "Ye- wait, no, what? What the hell are you trying to say Jackson?"

"I'm sorry." Jackson blurts. "I need to tell you something."

Movement catches Liam's eye and he looks up to see Theo walking toward them looking upset.

"You're not even listening to me."

Liam's eyes snap back to Jackson at the accusation. "I'm sorry. I'll be back in a minute."

He rushes toward Theo. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." His eyes are still on Jackson, though.

Is Theo… jealous?

"Hey." Theo finally looks at him. "You sure you're okay?"

Theo's face softens. "Yeah."

"Okay." Liam is about to tell Theo that Jackson had something to tell him, but when he looks back, his ex is already walking away from them.

•○•●•○•

The rehearsal was an absolute success and the entire wedding party is now sitting around a giant table enjoying wine and catered food while trading stories of Brett, Liam, and the boys when they were kids.

Liam's mom starts to tell the story of the girl that supposedly tore Brett and Liam apart. When Liam tries to object, his mom just tells him that Theo needs to be initiated into the family. "I blame Jeni Knuckles for why my two boys can't seem to get along." When Liam and Brett both scoff, she points her fingers at them both. "Don't deny it, you two barely tolerate each other."

Mason interjects with, "It's true. The only thing you have in common is that you're both secretly attracted to me."

The entire table laughs and their mom finally starts the story. "The beginning of second grade, these boys got in a fight over Jeni Knuckles and haven't made up since."

Liam rolls his eyes and looks at Theo. "Apparently we were inseparable."

"If Brett weren't always significantly taller, you'd have thought they were twins." Mason chimes in again.

Liam scratches his cheek with his middle finger aimed at Mason while the table laughs again. "Anyway. Jeni was  _ my _ girlfriend and I invited her to  _ my _ eighth birthday party."

"But when she got there," Brett picks up the story, "Jeni ignored Liam because she wanted to play with me."

"Anyway," Liam's mom waves to catch Theo's attention. "The point of the story is that Jeni ended up with a cake dumped on her head."

Liam's face screws up and he looks up at the sky. Theo nudges him with his shoulder. "So was that when she punched you?"

Liam frowns. "She cried a lot but there was no punching."

"So, wait, her last name is Knuckles?"

"No, her last name was Collins." Brett tilts his head in confusion. 

"So why do you call her Jeni Knuckles?"

Nobody speaks for a moment, then their mom hugs out a laugh. "I have absolutely no idea."

The table cracks up and Liam stands, grabbing a couple of empty bottles. "I'm going to go get more wine."

He deposits the empties on a free counter in the kitchen and heads down to the wine cellar. He's looking for something sweet go go with dessert when Jackson appears in the doorway. 

Liam's pleasantly surprised that his first emotion upon seeing him is impatience. "Jackson! I can pick wine myself, you know."

"I know. That's not why I'm here."

"Okay?"

"I- fuck." Jackson sighs. "I didn't think this would be so freaking hard. I just- I feel like I owe you an explanation."

"Dude, relax. It's fine." Liam smiles at him. "I promise. Though, I should probably tell you that I brought Theo here to torture you for the entire weekend." He turns away from Jackson to continue to peruse the selection. "Then, I dunno, man, something happened and I just don't care about us anymore. Quite frankly I'm tired of you and me." He finds a well aged sweet red that looks delicious and tucks it under his arm. "So let's just go up and enjoy some tiramisu and leave us in the past where it belongs."

"I slept with Brett."

Liam's entire world stops. "I'm sorry?"

"I fucked your brother. Two years ago." Jackson swallows. "That's- that's why I broke it off between us."

Liam takes two steps back. His entire perspective of the last two years changing dramatically.

Jackson continues as if he hadn't just ripped Liam's freshly healed heart right out of his chest again. "After you left, we kept doing it until we realized how wrong and insane it was. And that was it, right? But then, when Brett proposed to Josh I realized that I love him. I'm in love with Brett."

_ What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck.  _ It's all Liam can think as he tries to breathe.

"Please say something." Jackson takes a half step forward and Liam just turns and walks away.

_ What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck? _

With the wine bottle still clutched in his hand, he finds himself back out on the deck where the party was still going on. The air feels heavy and Liam's hollow chest feels like it's about to cave in from the pressure 

Mason, who'd been leaning against the table looking bored, snaps to attention as soon as he sees Liam. Liam doesn't know what his face is doing but Mason certainly looks worried about him. Until he looks behind Liam and no doubt sees Jackson coming up behind them. "Oh, my god, he told you."

Liam steps back from Mason like he'd burned him. "You knew?"

"God, Liam. I'm sorry. I'm-"

Liam turns away from him and his eyes land directly on Brett and Josh whispering to each other with secret smiles on their faces. Oh, how Liam hates them.

Brett must sense eyes on him because he looks up as sees Liam's face. Again, he really doesn't know what it's doing, but whatever it is wipes the smile off Brett's face and he jumps up from his seat to stand in front of Liam. Liam just stares directly in his eyes until he sees that Brett understands that he  _ knows. _

He knows why Brett wasn't around when Jackson dumped him. He knows why Brett barely spoke to him the last two years. He knows why Brett suddenly becomes an alcoholic when Liam's around. He knows why Brett freaked out at Corey's bar. And damn if that asshole wasn't right. He really doesn't deserve to get married. Especially not to someone as good and sweet and lovely as Josh. Brett could never deserve Josh. And now Liam knows why.

Liam turns away without saying anything and Brett and the others follow him. Brett tries to grab his arm but Liam roughly shakes him off. "Liam. Liam, please. Please don't say anything."

Liam keeps walking until he's in Theo's arms. Theo holds him tight as he feels like he's coming apart. 

"I can't believe you told him!" Brett hisses.

Liam freezes and peeks up to see Brett staring accusingly at Theo. As if Theo had known and could've told Liam. But he didn't. Jackson had told Liam. 

But Theo had known because Brett had told him. 

Liam pushes Theo back and away. Thunder crashes around them and Liam stares up at the small crowd of people who'd known about Jackson and Brett's affair and hadn't told him. Had just sat back for two years and pretended like they weren't humiliating him behind his back.

Liam turns and bolts, dropping the bottle of wine as the first rain drops fall.

•○•●•○•

Theo chases after Liam. 

He catches up to him around some old outbuildings. "Liam!"

"Go away." Liam says and Theo's heart twists at the tears in his voice. "You knew and you didn't tell me."

"Wait up."

"I can't believe I trusted you."

"C'mon, Liam. You have to stop running."

Liam halts and spins around to face him. "How could you have not told me?"

"I just found out-" Theo checks his watch "-five hours ago. What the hell was I supposed to say? When?"

Liam ignores that and says, "You let me make a fool of myself. You lied to me. And I know I was stupid to believe I could trust you because lying is what you do. It's who you are."

"Oh, that's rich. You're gonna blame me as if you're not the one who hired me to come here and pretend to be your damn boyfriend." 

Theo is so frustrated. All he wanted to do was take Liam into his arms and comfort him but he can't ignore what the other man is saying. Especially since he did lie by omission where Brett and Jackson were concerned. But he'd done it to try to spare this pain that Liam is going through right now. 

No good deed goes unpunished.

"You're right," Liam says, his voice defeated. Theo fucking hates it. "I was so desperate to make everyone believe I was happy that I paid six  _ thousand  _ dollars for a lie. And the only asshole who ended up believing it was me." 

Theo can't speak. He can barely breathe.

Liam continues. "I wish I could say it was worth it."

Something inside Theo breaks. He shoves it deep down and ignores the jagged edges of it pressing into his lungs. "Fine, Liam. You wanna hate me? Hate me." He takes a couple of steps back and sneers. "You were running on fumes with Jackson anyway. Maybe you can squeeze enough out of this to ruin your next relationship."

He turns and marches back to the big house. He should've never come here. He should've stuck to his guns and never agreed to do a wedding. He should've ignored the hope in Liam's voice and let some other good-looking chump accompany him here to this beautiful home and these eccentric people. He should've never let himself fall for Liam Dunbar. 

The sun is setting when he makes it back to the house. He immediately goes up the stairs and repacks his bags. He gathers them up and leaves Liam's room with his accomplishments and constellations behind. He finds the butler and makes arrangements to have his suitcases shipped home before slinging his carryon over his shoulder. Thankfully, he manages to avoid Liam as he bails out of the house.

He starts heading down the driveway when the door opens and Josh practically stumbles out after him. "Theo!"

"I'm just gonna check into a hotel in town," Theo tells him and turns to keep walking.

"Don't be an idiot, man. That's like five miles to walk. In dress shoes? I don't think so." Theo looks down at his oxfords. The man has a point. "Here." Josh tosses him a set of keys and points at his convertible. "Take the car. And the key on the red keychain goes to the lake house. Go ahead and stay there tonight."

Theo nods gratefully and walks to the car. 

"I don't know what's going on with you guys," Josh tucks his hands into his pockets and rocks back on his heels. "But I'm sure you'll work it out. You couldn't be more perfect if he'd picked you out of a catalog."

Theo's eyes threaten to water at the unintentional truth behind the other man's statement. "Thanks, Josh."

He slides into the driver's seat and closes the door. He lowers the rearview mirror so he doesn't have to see what he's leaving as he drives away.

•○•●•○•

Liam's fresh out of the shower and dressed in his oldest, rattiest sweats as he sits on his bed and stares blankly at his tv. He has no idea what is playing and he really doesn't fucking care. When a knock sounds at the door he doesn't say anything, hoping the person will go away. They do not.

Brett walks into the room.

Liam stares blankly at him instead.

Brett speaks first. "Hey."

"Hey."

"I just wanted to thank you for not outing me in front of Josh." Brett rubs the back of his neck. "I'm going to tell him. But now isn't really the time."

"God, yeah, you're right." Liam nods. "You should really wait for the right time so that when you tell him you repeatedly fucked his best friend it won't feel like the end of the world because you tricked him into marrying you."

"Li…"

"Don't worry. I'm not going to ruin your big day. You can deal with Josh in your own time and tomorrow I will smile and say all the right things. I'll be a good brother." Liam turns back to the tv. "But tonight, I'm just the guy whose fiance you fucked and heart you broke. Get out."

Brett's breath catches but he leaves a moment later.

Liam's not sure how much longer he stares at the tv before another knock sounds at the door followed by another person entering without an invitation. This time, Liam doesn't bother to look up as he recognizes the footsteps that lead to his bed. Mason sits next to him and sits silently for a few minutes.

Finally, Liam leans against his best friend's shoulder. Mason reaches up to pull him closer. "I'm so sorry, Li. I guess I just thought that if I didn't tell you, I'd spare you this pain you're feeling right now." He runs his hand gently over Liam's back. "I didn't find out right away. I found out about four months after you left? I, uh, caught them with their hands down each other's pants in the bathroom at the club." Liam flinches. "If it makes you feel any better, I tore into them right there and I'm pretty sure they stopped soon after that. If for no other reason than because Josh finally asked Brett out."

"Jackson said they stopped because they realized how wrong and crazy it was," Liam mumbles. "And that he's in love with Brett."

"Serves him right to have to watch the man he loves marry someone a thousand times better than him, huh?"

Liam snorts tiredly. "A thousand times better than Brett, too."

"True enough."

Liam sighs. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

Liam really did not want to stay in that big, soft bed alone. 

"Yeah, buddy. I'll stay." Mason grabs the remote and turns off the TV before standing to crawl under the covers on his side of the bed. Liam follows suit on his side. "Do you wanna talk about Theo?"

"That asshole?" Liam asks a little hysterically. "Not tonight, Mase."

"Alright. Love you, buddy."

"Love you, too, man."

•○•●•○•

After booking the earliest flight back to New York he could get for the next day, Theo sets his phone aside and buries his face in his hands. He's ready to go the fuck home and pretend that this weekend never fucking happened. 

He can't believe that he's only known Liam for roughly 72 hours and one argument with the man has reduced him to this. How had he let Liam get under his skin like that. Why did Theo let him  _ matter  _ so goddamn much? 

But Theo supposes those aren't the questions eating at him the most. As much as he wishes it were some giant mystery that could never be solved, Theo knows why Liam is different from every other client. It's because Theo had stopped thinking of Liam as a client. He'd broken his own rules and forgot that it was supposed to be a business transaction. 

He's honestly not a hundred percent sure when that had happened. Maybe when Liam had smiled so sweetly at him and said: "I want you." Maybe when he'd kissed Theo in front of the bachelor party. Maybe when he'd wrapped his sweaty body around Theo after he'd won the lacrosse game. Maybe when he'd woken up with Liam cuddled up to him that first morning. But maybe, maybe it was when Mrs. Talbot had been giving her speech at the engagement party and he'd had to watch Liam close in on himself under the stares if the people who were supposed to be his friends; supposed to love him.

Theo aches for the man who'd done everything for everyone else, setting his own needs and wants aside. Theo had reveled in seeing a genuine smile bloom on the man's face when he looked at him. His heart breaks all over again when he thinks about how the last time Liam had looked at him, he'd been red-eyed and accusatory.

Theo chuckles humorlessly to himself as he lays in the bed Liam's brother and fiance had betrayed him in. It's a sick sort of irony, isn't it? Everyone who hurts him ends up here.

Theo sighs and tries to get some sleep.

•○•●•○•

The next morning is chaos as Liam's mom runs around the house getting everyone ready to go the salon or barber shop to get prettied up. Once Liam is in a chair with his face freshly shaved and is getting his hair trimmed, Mason stands behind the barber and just looks at Liam in the mirror.

"I'm fine." Liam assures him. 

"I don't believe you," Mason answers pointedly.

"Don't worry about me, Mase." Liam locks eyes with him in the mirror. "It's nothing a bottle of Jack and Jordan's straight razor can't fix." He beams sarcastically. 

"Hey, now." Jordan tugs gently at the lock of hair between his fingers. "My razor has done all its gonna do for you today, Dunbar, and that's make your jawline appear sharp enough to cut a man. I don't know what you're going through, but you're going to look fine as hell while you're going through it, so help me god."

A small genuine smile quirks Liam's lips. "And I thank you very much and eternally for that, Jordan." He looks at Mason again. "Seriously, I'll be fine. Besides, it's Brett's day. We can deal with my bullshit tomorrow."

Once everyone is groomed to perfection, Liam stands beside Brett with a smile plastered tp his face while photos are taken. But as soon as he's no longer needed, he disappears behind the church to sit in the quiet and be alone with his thoughts.

Or at least he tries, but then his dad finds him. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you."

"Well, you've found me." Liam scoots over on the step he's sitting on to allow his father to join him.

"Indeed. So. Why did you let Theo go?"

His dad never really was one for pulling punches. Liam sighs. "It's complicated, Dad."

"I'm sure it is. It always is. I supposed it never would've worked out anyway, right?" Liam kind of hates that his dad can just pluck the thoughts right out of his head. "You know, I read this facinating article from the New York Times magazine a few weeks ago where this guy said, 'Everyone has the love life he or she wants.' And you know what? I think he's absolutely right." 

Oh, fuck that goddamn article right to hell. Liam wishes he'd never laid eyes on it. And fuck Theo Raeken for being right all the goddamn time.

Jullien continues, unaware of the severity of his son's inner turmoil. "But I don't believe for one second that  _ this  _ is what you want, Liam."

Once again, his father is  _ right.  _

"Ever since you were a boy, you've always worried more about what other people wanted. What they thought. But what about you, huh? What do you want? Do you think Theo is the guy for you?"

Liam's face crumples and he nods because, yes. As stupid add it sounds, he wants Theo more than he's ever wanted anything. He wants his smiles and laughs. He wants his shower singing and snark. Hell, he even wants Theo's sneer and angry words. Anything and everything the man is willing to give Liam as long as he can have the rest as well.

Liam wants to know Theo. He wants to love him and laugh with him and fight with him. 

When Liam nods again, his dad hugs him. "Well then go get him. Josh gave him the keys to the lake house."

"But what about the wedding?"

"It's still got another hour or so and I'll stall if I have to." He kisses Liam's forehead and stands. "Now, go get your man."

•○•●•○•

The nearest airport to Beacon Hills is in Redding, so Theo gets up early to make his flight on time. He's sure that at this point everyone in the wedding party is out of bed and probably getting ready at the shops if his memory of the itinerary is correct. 

He wonders how Liam is dealing with yesterday's aftermath this morning. Then he admonishes himself for wondering. He's not going to be able get over the other man if he keeps thinking about him. He tries to hold onto his own philosophy. He doesn't  _ want  _ to be pining over a man he barely knows. So he's going to let. It. Go.

He  _ is. _

That's why he writes the small letter while he drinks his coffee. That's why, after he cleans up and gets dressed in a casual suit, he locks the door and leaves the letter behind. Someone will find it and leave give it to Liam.

He passes through the town and the trees and doesn't think about how beautiful he'd thought Liam's hometown was the first time he'd seen it. He doesn't think about how Liam's face had lit up as soon as they'd entered the city limits. He doesn't think about Liam's stories and how he'd sat in the passenger seat soaking up every detail the other man shared with him, how much more he'd wanted ro get to know him.

Theo grits his teeth as he passes the "You Are Now Leaving Beacon Hills" sign. It shouldn't hurt this goddamn much. It shouldn't bother him at all. It shouldn't-

Theo pulls over.

It shouldn't, but it does. It does hurt and it does bother him and he is thinking about Liam. And, fuck, he doesn't want to be pining over Liam but he also doesn't want to leave things as they are. 

This doesn't  _ feel  _ like an ending to Theo. But if he leaves, it will be. 

Theo sits for a few minutes, fingers tapping on the steering wheel as he contemplates turning around. He decides that he can't just leave. He needs to talk to Liam at least one last time. To see if they can try to figure something out.

He checks the time and makes a U turn. It's coming up to the time for the ceremony. Theo is willing to wait until it's over. Maybe he'll crash the reception. Whatever he's doing, he's not leaving California without seeing Liam again.

•○•●•○•

Liam borrowed the Just Married car and zooms through the city streets with the cans clattering obnoxiously behind him as he makes his way toward his family's property and the lake house he'd grown up in. He parks haphazardly beside the footpath and runs as fast as he can up the the hill and bursts through the door ready and willing to confess everything he feels fire Theo to the man himself.

But as he looks around, he realizes he's alone. Theo is already gone. 

Liam grits his teeth and tries not to cry. He's too late and it's all his fault. If he hadn't taken his raw emotions out on Theo the night before, he'd still be there. Liam sighs and turns to leave. Then, he sees the paper on the table.

A simple sheet of blank white paper folded in half with Liam's name on it. He picks it up and sees the worn envelope beneath it. His breath hitches as he recognizes it for the one he'd handed to Theo in a coat room. 

Liam opens the paper to see what Theo had written him before leaving him forever.

_ Liam, _

_ All the money is there. Trust me.  _

_ You never got closure with Jackson and despite what I said last night, I don't want you to have to go through that again. I wish it didn't have to end like this because I was starting to believe it, too. But I guess this is it instead. _

_ I know how much you hate secrets and in the spirit of full disclosure, I need to tell you that I kept two from you. The second, you found out last night. The first is this: the night of the bachelor parties, we were intimate with each other. I lied because I didn't want you to pay for something you couldn't remember. I also didn't want to cheapen a night that meant so much me with money. And to be completely fucking honest, I felt like an asshole for not realizing you were so drunk that you wouldn't even remember what we did together. Which wasn't much, by the way, but sometimes the minimum is more than enough. I'm so fucking sorry for taking advantage, Liam. Intentionally or otherwise. _

_ You are a wonderful human being and I only wish you happiness. Please take care of yourself. _

_ Theo _

That fucking asshole. Doesn't Theo realize that he's the one thing that could make Liam happy at the moment. Liam can't believe the audacity of this man, to leave something like this for Liam to find and, what? Does he expect Liam to just let him go? Liam lives in New York City, too. The city isn't that fucking big.

Liam wants his chance to have a real thing with Theo and he will not give it up now. Determined to see the wedding through do that he can go home, Liam snatches up the envelope and carries it along with his letter, tossing them back into the car and makes his way back to the church. 

Once there, he realizes something else is wrong. He finds mason and asks, "What's going on?"

Mason smirks. "Josh just chased Jackson out of the church. It seems that Brett found the courage to confess to Josh  _ before  _ the wedding and I guess Josh was more pissed at Jackson about it all. Which, I guess is fair."

"Wow." Liam blinks. "Where's Brett?"

"Dunno. He hasn't come up yet."

Liam sighs. "I'll go find him."

"Why?"

"Because he's still my brother and the man he loves just ran off. I can relate." Liam smiles sadly. "Maybe we can find the communion wine and get shit faced together."

Mason snorts and Liam heads toward the back of the church to find Brett. He finds him sitting at an ornate desk with his head in his hands. He looks up sharply when Liam enters the room and he can see Brett's red eyes from where he'd been crying. 

"Liam."

"Hey. Heard you did the right thing."

"Yeah. If fucking hurts, too." Brett scrubs at his eyes with the back of his hands and sighs, moving to stand in front of Liam. "I never told you I'm sorry."

"What?"

"For everything. All the shit that went down with Jackson. It was all bullshit. I was so jealous of you, Liam. I wanted what you had and I thought that was Jackson. But I realized that he wasn't actually what I wanted, I wanted the relationship, not the man. And I ruined your relationship and our relationship for nothing. And I'm sorry, Liam. I'm so, so fucking sorry." Brett hangs his head, fresh tears spilling from his eyes.

"Wow." Liam steps up to Brett and straightend his lapels. "This must be the Tuxedo of Truth. First Josh, now me? Got and confessions for Lori that I need to bring her in for?"

"Fuck you." Brett laughs wetly.

"Come here." Liam drags Brett to him and hugs him. "Sincere apologies seem to be working for me today. So. It was two years ago and I think we've all been punished enough for it, don't you?"

"Yeah." Brett squeezes him tightly. "I love you, Li."

"I love you, too, big guy."

They step back and Brett wipes his face again. "What a mess I've made, huh?"

Liam reaches for the tissue box on the desk and hands it out to Brett. "Brother, Josh is so in love with you. If you think he's not coming back after he's calmed down then you really are dumber than you are tall."

•○•●•○•

Theo is almost to the church when he sees two well dressed figures sprinting down the road. He realizes it's Josh and Jackson and he can't help but violate several traffic laws to pull around to them to hear what they're yelling at each other. 

"-given up! What's the problem?" Jackson hollers running behind a tree.

Josh chase's him around. "You back-stabbing piece of shit!"

"That's not fair! It was before you guys were even dating."

Ah. Someone told Josh the truth. And apparently he's not splitting hairs for his friend. "You were engaged to his brother!"

Theo decides really likes Josh.

"Josh, calm down!" Jackson feints left and bolts down the road again. "We can talk about this like civilized human beings."

Josh doesn't respond, just keeps chasing after him. Unfortunately, Jackson is a former lacrosse star and Josh was a party boy. Josh starts to run out of steam and Jackson keeps running. Theo keeps back with Josh.

"I look like a fucking dumbass, don't I?" Josh pants.

"Yeah, kind of." Theo laughs and stops the car. "Get in the car, Josh. He's halfway to Oregon by now."

Josh climbs into the car and they sit in silence for a few moments while he catches his breath. Finally he says, "I trust you've enjoyed your trip to California?"

Theo snorts. "Yeah, it was fantastic. Thanks, Joshy."

Josh rolls his eyes at the nickname. "You know, I felt sorry for you last night. I was just sitting there like some smug asshole, thinking, 'Aren't I a lucky son of a bitch?'" He sighs and runs the sweat off his face. "You know, I forgave him when I thought it was just some rando, right? But not Jackson." He sneers.

Theo doesn't know what to say to that so he just listens as Josh sorts out his thoughts and feelings.

"And Liam? God. Poor Liam."  _ That _ makes Theo grind his teeth. "I've had Brett up on a pedestal ever since… ever since I put him up there. Boyhood crush, hero worship, love of my life. I know he's a dick sometimes, I'm not blind but but I never thought he'd…" Josh sighs.

Theo gives voice to his own thoughts and emotions. "The hardest thing's loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back." God, it's so hard, but… "But if you know his shit and he knows yours and at the end of the day, you'd still rather give up than try then nothing's ever gonna be worth it."

More than anything else, he knows this to be true. Because that's how he feels about Liam. He doesn't want to give up and he can tell Josh doesn't want to give up on Brett. Not after loving him for half his life.

So theo grips the steering wheel and says, "Maybe think about it this way. You go back, you get to spend the rest of your life having really great makeup sex."

Josh laughs. "That's certainly true."

"So. You wanna go back?"

"Ah, hell. Let's go. Though, I do seem to suddenly be in need of a best man." Josh taps a random rhythm on the dash. "You wouldn't happen to be willing to take up the position, would you?"

"Me?" Theo blinks over at him.

"Yeah, Theo. You're certainly being a better man and friend than Jackson."

Theo swallows the sudden lump in his throat. "I'd be honored, man."

"Onward, then. Let's go get our men."

Theo laughs and starts the car.

•○•●•○•

With the wedding postponed while the wait for the other groom to return, Liam steps out of the church to make a phone call. Either theo will pick up or he'll leave a message. Either way, he's going to tell Theo his intentions upon his return to New York. He's not going to let Theo go without a fight.

But before he can hit dial on his phone, Josh comes running up the garden path. "Josh!"

"Hey, Li! Gotta run! See you inside!"

Baffeled, Liam turns to see who else is coming and he nearly drops his phone when he sees Theo.

Theo slows when he reaches Liam, stopping in front of him. "Hi."

"Theo. Hi."

"Hey, so, last night when we fought, I thought that was it, you know? I thought I could just get on a plane and leave. Go home and forget about all of this." Theo reaches out and pushes back a lock of Liam's hair that had fallen over his forehead. "But I got halfway out of here and realized that I'd rather fight with you than make love with anyone else."

Liam let's out a watery laugh. "You asshole." He tugs Theo to him and kisses him right there, then pulls back and hold up his phone. "I saw your stupid letter. I was just about to call you and tell you that you weren't getting rid of me that easily. New York City isn't big enough for you to hide from me."

Theo's face scrunches up into the smile that Liam loves so much. "Boy, when you decide you want something you really go for it, huh?"

"You're goddamn right." Liam kisses him again.

This time it's Theo who pulls away. "I've gotta go."

"What? No!"

"I have to, I'm Josh's best man." Theo winks at Liam and turns to head into the church.

What a dick. God, Liam loves him.

•○•●•○•

The ceremony is lovely, with Brett and Josh reciting vows they'd written themselves. Liam's pretty sure Brett has cried more in the last hour than he has in the past fifteen years. But he's glad that this last round of tears are from happiness and his love for Josh Diaz.

Liam has a hard time keeping his eyes off of Theo. He can't believe he's actually here. That Theo'd turned around and come back for him. As Liam watches his brother pledge himself to Josh, he can't help but hope that maybe, just maybe, he and Theo can do this too someday.

It's too new, though hardly untried. But if they could survive the last three days, hopefully the rest will be smooth sailing. 

At the reception, Liam follows Theo's example and makes a simple toast. "Joshy, I know for a fact that there is no one in the world who can love my brother better than you. I'm so happy that you're my brother now, too. Be good to one another. To, Jett!"

Everyone who gets the joke, laughs and everyone else just drinks. Liam is pleased and he's content in a way he wouldn't have even thought possible when he'd woken up that morning with a heartache and sticky eyes. And when Theo asks him to dance, who is he to say no.

They join Brett and Josh on the dance floor, dancing away to new and old music. Mason drags Corey on the dance floor and Liam is so happy to see how well they're getting along. They step off when the DJ calls all of the married couples to the dance floor and Liam loves seeing Brett and Josh up there with their parents. He also smiles at Isaac and Danny, who were the first of their lot to get hitched. 

He's pretty sure Stiles and Lydia are next. He bet good money on it.

When the evening is done and the newlyweds are on their way to their honeymoon destination, Liam curls up with Theo in his bed. "I'm so glad you came back."

"I am too." Theo kisses him and he drifts to sleep.

•○•●•○•

Theo officially quits the business and as soon as they get home, he takes Liam out on a proper date.

Theo pays.

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Liam initiates sexy times with Theo while drunk. Theo doesn't realize how drunk Liam is and accepts his advances.


End file.
